Featured Client:

Align Credit Union | Lowell, Massachusetts | Asset Size: $550 million

Protecting members’ personal information is a top priority for Align Credit Union. That is why the Lowell, Massachusetts financial institution offers Virtual StrongBox as digital safe in their security suite offering.

Align CU offers the online safe as a member benefit, helping their account holders protect their most sensitive information. With Total Information Privacy & Protection, the platform is the only option online that promises storage space so secure that only the member has the ability to see what’s inside. Not even Align CU or Virtual StrongBox employees can access files within the online safe […]

Featured Client:

Past exams at Honor Credit Union depended upon a single flash drive. Credit union employees would pass the flash drive between departments to upload requested documents to hand examiners when they arrived at the credit union, shuffling the drive back-and-forth as additional files were requested. This year Honor decided to simplify the process.

Led by Frank Witucki, VP of Risk Management, Honor CU updated how they exchanged information with state examiners by leveraging Virtual StrongBox. The credit union provides Virtual StrongBox to members as a digital safe deposit box and […]

What if credit union examiners could do most – or all – of their “field” work remotely, from their home offices? No, really, think about it. You might even envision John Lennon in the background, singing “Imagine all the examiners … living life at home.” But we don’t need to listen to Lennon or other members of the Fab Four to improve processes like credit union exams. All we need is a little creative thinking – and a little help from digital technology.

Why should credit unions care if examiners can do their work and still make it to the kids’ evening […]

July 2017

With Virtual StrongBox, your customers will not only have a secure place for their digital files, but also a safe way to exchange those documents. There are three ways to exchange documents using Virtual StrongBox.

Exchanging a file with others

Let’s say your customer’s daughter needs a copy of her passport because she lost her physical documentations while traveling abroad. The customer can email a secure link to her travel information to help her get in touch with the embassy and find her way home.

Your customer can decide how many times someone can use the link to download the file directly from your […]

As if our stress-laden society didn’t have enough fears and phobias, now there’s nomophobia – “the fear of being without a mobile phone.” It’s that sinking feeling you get when you can’t find your phone or know you left it at home. The British Post Office coined the term “nomophobia” in 2010, and for some it’s a real anxiety.

That isn’t surprising. Market research firm IDC found that 79% of smartphone users have their phones on or near them every waking hour. There were some 7.7 billion mobile devices worldwide by the end of 2014 – […]

Your bank and our clients have a lot in common. They’re financial institutions and other high-risk companies that know future success is tied to new technologies; yet, implementing a full digital strategy can seem overwhelming. They have talented, energetic people who work hard. And, in common with your bank, our clients face challenges like:

Satisfying customers who want – no, demand – to do banking on their own terms while also expecting a consistent, easy and low-stress experience every single time

Weighing the drawbacks of legacy systems and inefficient workflows against the high cost […]

January 2017

At the turn of the century, American philosopher William James said, “A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.” James was thinking ideologically, but it reminds me of “Red Rover,” the playground game we all played as kids. Remember how teams sent out a player to try to break through the weakest part of the opposing team’s circle? That’s how hackers and cyber thieves look for vulnerabilities in your credit union’s security system.

Find the chinks in the shield

Thanks to the worsening epidemic of online fraud, ID theft and other scams, it’s getting […]

There are some categories where no company wants a first-place ranking: number of defective product recalls, number of malpractice suits and number of data breaches, to name a few. (That last title, most breaches and records stolen (40 million), went to Fling.com, a Florida-based online relationship service.)

Globally, data collected by the Breach Level Index shows 974 reported data breaches over the first half of 2016, for a total of 554.5 million records. The 2015 Index puts the total of stolen records at 707.5 million records in 2015. Breaking it out, you’re looking […]

While today’s technology is disrupting all industries, those of us in financial services think of it mostly in terms of digital bank services and marketing. We ask, How do our customers want to interact with us? Which digital strategies will make us most competitive? When will see a bottom-line benefit from our investment?

But when I recently got my annual flu shot, I started thinking about the ways new technologies are put to use in other areas, like fighting disease. The first flu vaccine was developed in 1945, and now researchers are closing in […]

Members have no complaints about the credit union’s tech offerings, so it’s all good, right?

Wrong, says one expert.

“It isn’t wise to mistake radio silence for member satisfaction,” said Ron Daly, president and CEO of Virtual Strongbox, who added that it is essential to get out ahead of any potential issues before members start walking out the door due to dissatisfaction over the CU’s digital service delivery.

Daly underscored the urgency of sound technology decisions, pointing to digital banking milestones that show the shift toward mobile is now happening at an ever increasing pace, leading […]